Shock-absorber.



H. A. AHNERT. SHOCK ABSORBER. APPLIUATION PIL'ED SEPT. 30, 1918.

Patented Oct. 6, 1-914 1 9 1 9 6 SHEETS-SHEET INVENTOR WM 7 B,

nanny ALBERT AHNER'R, or NEW YORK, N. Y.

SHOCK-ABSORBER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Oct. 6, 1914.

Application filed September 30, 1913. Serial No. 792,604.

To ZZ whom, it may concern:

lie it known that I, HENRY ALBERT iii-inert, a citizen of the United States, and aresident of the city of New York, borough lllanhattan, in the county and State of New York, have invented a new and Improved Shockuibsorber, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

Ci his invention relates to springs or cushioning devices for vehicles and has particular reference to means for relieving a motor vehicle especially from the objectionable bouncing due to rapid travel over rhd'gh uneven roadways.

f lore particularly stated, the invention wmprises a shock absorber including a casclamped adjustably to a vehicle frame, rid casing carrying a plurality of springs o t different weights between or among which is interposed a piston slidable vertically in s id casing to which the main vehicle spring is connected, the arrangement being such as to 'make it adaptable for use in connection with varying loads upon the same vehicle.

The foregoing and other objects of the inv vention will hereinafter be more fully described and claimed and illustrated in the drawings forming a part of this specification in whichlike characters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the views, and in which liigure 1 is a side elevation of a portion of a vehicle equipped with my improvement; is a plan View of the casing cap and a acliet to support the casing, a portion of as bracket being broken away; Fig. 3 is a it rtical section on the line 33 of Fig. 2; l is a partial vertical section at right armies to Fig. 3 and looking toward the verse section on the line 5-5 of Fig. 1.

The several parts of the device may be made of any suitable materials, and the relative cral deer n of the mechanism, may be varied to a con ..i ;lerable extent without departing "from the spirit of the invention hereinafter more fully set forth and specifically claimed.-

Referring particularly to the drawings I show at a fagment of a vehicle frame supported upon. wheels 11 and having any suitz-ible main springs 12.

instead of the end of the main spring 12 ng connected directly to the frame I proe a cushioning device on shock absorber comprismg a casing l 13; effitubiilar form .;ht in said figure; and Fig. is a transes and proportions, as well as the genshown herein as cylindrical, but to this I do not wish to be unnecessarily limited. The 'asing is clamped at l t in a bracket 15 so cured to and extending preferably rearwardly of the mainframe 10 of the vehicle. A bolt 16 passing through the lugs 14; of the clamp 14 serves to secure the casing to the bracket at least in part. Any suitable number of these shock absorbers may be employed in any one vehicle and at least one will be arranged at each rear corner thereof." Each bracket is provided with a pair of ears 1? having vertical screw threaded holes 17 through one of which a lifting screw 18 passes, the upper portion of the screw cooperating with a hub 19 extending from the cap 20 at the upper end of the casing. Said screw 18 may be arranged to cooperate with either of the holes of the cars 17, and if it is used in connection with the one on the outer side, the remaining hole left open may be cmploycdfor the attachment of luggage or other devices to the rear end of the vehicle. Fig. 2 in this respect may be considered as showing the cap on the-remote side of the vehicle. The screw 18 has free or smooth engagement with the hub 19, and when ro tated in one direction by means of a wrench, the: bolt 16 being sulliciently loose for this purpose, the casing 13 may be forced clownwardly with respect to the frame so as to accommodate the position of the frame with respect to the main springs or axles to a heavier load than might be accommodated under ordinary conditions. The screw, therefore, serves as an auxiliary means to secure the casing in any desired position of adjustmentwith respect to the bracket 15.

A plunger 21 somewhat in the nature of a piston is fitted for longitudinal reciprocations within the casing 13. Said plunger comprises upper and lower cups 22 and 23 spaced from each other and connected by a pair of parallel straps 2st. The space between the straps 24 transversely and between the bottoms of the'cups 22 and 23 vertically is designed to accommodate a pair of ivoted links 25 constituting a hanger wit in the plunger for the support of the main spring 12 of the vehicle. Each of these links includes ahub 26 jo'urnaled for oscillation upon a transverse pin 27 carried by enlargements or shoulders 28 at the lower ends of thestraps 24,. and each link also includes mpin :orstud' 29 for pivotal engagement withthe end of the spring. It

will be noted, furthermore, that the hanger connections between the end of the spring and the plunger provide free vertlcal reciprocations of the plunger and the necessary action of the spring.

As above noted, a cap is arranged at the upper end of the casing. It is connected thereto by means of a screw threaded flange 20 detachably connected to corresponding screw'threads on the exterior of the upper end of the casing. A cap having a simllar fiange 30' is connected in a similar nan- .ing or reciprocating ner to the lower end of the casing, the cap 30, however, does not include the hub 19. The means for normally resisting the slidseated in'each-of the cups and cooperating or adapted to cooperate with the several end caps. The maincushioning springs in the casing are shown at 81 and 32, both of which are seated in the cup 22 and one of them is adjustable as to effective strength by means of a' nut or runner 83 having screw threaded engagement 'with the interior of the upper end of the casing, such in this waypractically the same efiect as a .at the lower end of the casing.

heavier spring would in sustaining a heavier load, it beingwell understood that a vehicle spring arranged for a heavy load is uncomfortablewhen carrying a light load. The auxiliary spring 32 is shorter than -the normal space between 22 and the cap 20 and hence does not come into play until a considerable amount of pressure has been cushioning spring 31, causing it to contract. In other words, when additional load is placed upon the vehicle or the vehicle vencounters an obstruction along the way, the auxiliary spring 32 is then brought into play assisting in relieving the extra strain from themain cushioning spring 31.

The tendency for the vehicle body to bounce as a result of encountering an-obstruction is resisted by the springs 35' and 36 seated between the cap 30 and the cup '23 These springs also are of different lengths, and, as shown, the spring 35 is intended to be always in engagement with the cup 23 as well as thevcap 30 and serves therefore to always resist any tendency for the vehicle to bounce. Any excess tendency, however, of this nature will be'received and resisted by the-addimovement of the plun-i ger within the caslng includes a plurahty of springs shown herein as two in number,

' ger to oscillate between said cups and supthe bottom of the cup exerted upon the main.

tional spring 36. These pairs of springs, it will be noted, are coiled. one within the other reversely so asto prevent any serious abrasion or rubbing between them. The side of the casing adjacent the main spring is cut away for the spring to pass into connectlon with the link 25 ,as noted at 13.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters" Patent: 7 p

1. The combination with the frame and a main spring of a vehicle, of a cushioning device therefor comprising a tubular casing, means to clamp the casing adjustably to the frame, said casing having an opening on the side to admit the spring, a plunger adapted to reciprocate within the casing, said plunger comprising oppositely arrangedspaced cups, hanger means comprising a pair of links pivoted'within the plun: 35

porting the end of the spring, and variablyeffective cushioning devices seated in said cups and extending oppositely therefrom into cooperation with the opposite portions of the casing.

2. The combination with a vehicle frame and a main spring, of ashock absorber comprising a tubular vertically arranged casing, a clamping bracket connected to the frame and surrounding the casing, a lifting screw cooperating between the upper end of the casing and said bracket for varying the vertical position of the casing with respect. to the frame, a plungerwithin the casing, means to,connect the end of the spring to the plunger for movement; vertically within the casing, said plunger comprising a pair of oppositely arranged spaced cups, and a pair of coil springs seated in each of the cups and extending thence toward the end of the casing, the springsof one pair being heavier 7 than those of the other and the springs of each pair being coiled reversely, substantially as set forth,

3. The combination with a vehicle frame and a main spring, of a shock absorber comprising a tubular casing having an open side, a clamp extending from the frame and embracing'the casing and adjustably secured thereto, said casing having capsxsecured at. its opposite ends, one of said caps having a projecting hub, a screw passing freely through said hub and threaded into said frame clamp for-the purpose of adjusting 1- the casing longitudinally through the clamp,

a plunger within the casing and slidable longitudinally thereof, said plunger having an open space registering with the casing opening, means to pivotally connect the endof said main spring to the plunger through saidfopenings, and cushioning devices between the plunger and said casing caps.

movementithe reof within 4;, main spring, of a shock absorber compris ng a casing means to secure the casing in'rlgid but adj sides of said member to regulate the slidable said cushioning 'device's comprising a pair vof coil springs one within the other and one shorter than the other unol er normal coxlditions, said casing including a cap at one end adapted to cooperate with one of said cushstabie position with respect- -to the frame, a, movable member Within the casing, means to connect the end of said main spring to the'movable memberwithin the casing, cushioning devices onopposite the casing, one of ioning springs under a" heavywlomi, the ed i5 1 said internal thread for cooperation withthe larger of said spn'ngs tovary its efiect,

substantially as set forth.-

In testimony whereof Ihave signed my name to this specification in the presence'of two subscribing witnesses. HENRY ALBERT Ammn'r. Witnesses} B Gno. L. EELEB, Pnm-D fiomemvs. 

